Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World - UCLG
Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World - UCLG
Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World - UCLG
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9<br />
Smangaliso Mkhatshwa<br />
President of <strong>UCLG</strong> Africa<br />
South Africa<br />
Co-President of CGLU<br />
Paco Moncayo<br />
Mayor of Quito<br />
Ecuador<br />
Co-President of CGLU<br />
Betr<strong>and</strong> Delanoë<br />
Major of Paris<br />
France<br />
Co-President of CGLU<br />
1st <strong>UCLG</strong> <strong>World</strong> Report on <strong>Decentralization</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>Local</strong> <strong>Democracy</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>World</strong><br />
Foreward<br />
It is our great pleasure, as Presidents of<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>World</strong> Organization of <strong>Local</strong> <strong>and</strong> Regional<br />
Authorities, to present <strong>the</strong> First <strong>World</strong><br />
Report on <strong>Decentralization</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Local</strong> <strong>Democracy</strong>.<br />
We hope that this report, which is <strong>the</strong> first of<br />
its k<strong>in</strong>d, will help deepen <strong>and</strong> streng<strong>the</strong>n<br />
knowledge about <strong>the</strong> role of local governments<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> contemporary world, <strong>and</strong> will<br />
enrich national <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternational discussions<br />
on <strong>the</strong> relationship between decentralization<br />
<strong>and</strong> development.<br />
The present report clearly shows that <strong>the</strong><br />
world is undergo<strong>in</strong>g a quiet democratic revolution.<br />
Therefore, even if important aspects<br />
of this process have yet to be accomplished,<br />
especially <strong>in</strong> countries <strong>in</strong> conflict<br />
(<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Middle East, Asia <strong>and</strong> Africa) local<br />
democracy is ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g momentum all over<br />
<strong>the</strong> world: from <strong>the</strong> African savanna villages,<br />
<strong>the</strong> highl<strong>and</strong>s of Lat<strong>in</strong> America, <strong>the</strong><br />
barangay <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Philipp<strong>in</strong>es to <strong>the</strong> towns<br />
of Eurasia.<br />
In a world where more than half of humanity<br />
now lives <strong>in</strong> cities, local authorities are<br />
also <strong>the</strong> key to <strong>the</strong> solution of major contemporary<br />
challenges of all k<strong>in</strong>ds: democratic,<br />
as it is <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> local sphere that <strong>the</strong> sense<br />
of citizenship is re<strong>in</strong>forced <strong>and</strong> identities are